A/N: chapter submission 2...I do not own Mai HiME/ Mai Otome.

Chapter 2

When Natsuki woke up, naked, and covered in scratches, she noted with a dry boredom, that she was once again fully female. The night was over, with no humans killed, and none claimed, that she could recall. Though at the thought of that, she once again clenched her eyes shut. Damn, that girl's still down there. Natsuki wasn't happy about that, and instead, she damned her very nature, knowing the instinctual urge was now gone, and so with it, was the one thing that made her species, her kind, so coveted as trophy prizes.

What other creature could look human, act human, and even think as one...and yet, be so different?

Natsuki's race was inhuman, but very special. They could be both a sire or dam to a child. It was only during four moons in the entire year, so it was a rarity, but it was still possible. The mating urge was strong during such a time, and because of it, her people grew into ugly, angry beasts. They willing to rip the head off of anyone, if it provided them with a willing companion. Common sense was lost to them, and Natsuki felt the pangs of guilt wash over her yet again. I am Natsuki Kuga, primitive urges do not control me!

It was a denial from the sickening truth.

She could berate herself all she wanted, in the end, she knew the truth. She had let primal instincts was over her, much to her fondest dismay. They do on mating nights... Natsuki sighed, she knew what it meant to deny her instincts continually. She understood what it would mean for her in the long run. The truth was, she just wasn't ready to settle down, and didn't want to be tied down by anyone. She wanted her own freedom.

Regardless of her reflections however, she had to deal with the vermin in the basement, fearing that the woman might not have left. So, with pain lingering in her raw body, battered and bruised in the worst, and yet enticing of ways, she got up and got dressed.

Her home was small, and suburban. During the normalcy of days, and nights when the full moon wasn't in perfection, Natsuki lived a fairly normal life. Lonely sometimes, indeed, but normal. Her house was small, however it was all she truly needed. She ran her tongue across her lips, testing that her teeth were indeed human again, before she went down into the musty basement, where she still found her captive, once again tied up just like before. Nao must have gotten kinky one last time this morning. It was an offhanded thought, but Natsuki was just happy that it was over, for now.

"You should have run away earlier, when you got the chance." She told Shizuru, who's mouth had been blocked. Natsuki first unclasped the gag that stifled the woman's words, and then went about unfastening the complicated chains Nao had tied Shizuru up with. "Did a number this time, I see."

"It wasn't safe." Shizuru spoke with a sleepy, pained reflection. Her voice was dry, and harsh. "Besides, werewolves take pride in promises." It didn't exactly offer solace. Humans usually hid during the four moons. "I knew I would fare better down here, rather than out on the streets." She heard the rumbling all night. The possessive fighting, and roars in the streets. "Besides, Nao was quite gentle, despite her biting." Though, Shizuru knew that was a relative term.

"We aren't normally so aggressive." Natsuki shook her head. "Only those who don't have a spiritual bond go berserk. It's a craze, it can't be helped."

"It only happens four times a year, correct?" Shizuru gathered the sheet around her body after her arms were finally set free. Soon her legs were the same, and she went to collect the borrowed clothing that littered the floor. "What about the other moons?" Even her gun was no longer something she could use. "What about your bodies in general?" The bullets were gone, but Nao had also bent the barrel. "They're unnatural, inhuman." There was no way it could ever be used again. "It's a pure monstrosity of nature, what you become."

"It only seems that way for you, because you're human." Natsuki said then evenly. "We're hunted and studied all over the earth, but what you humans don't get, is that we aren't merely rabid dogs." They were complex, with a social system all their own. "You can't kill me, so once you get dressed, just leave."

"I'd rather not." Shizuru told her. "Your friend touched me, they'll find her all over me." Shizuru knew they would, and that wasn't any safer for her, than it was for Natsuki's own kin. "Besides, I'm liable to turn into one of you any time now. I'd like to know just what's going to happen to me."

Natsuki crossed her arms and sighed. "It's not a virus, it's a birthright...or in a human's case, becoming spiritually bonded with one of my kind." She growled at Shizuru, more than just a little offended at the implication that she was some sort of ill, deranged being. "We can't turn you into a werewolf by having sex, anymore than you could turn me into a pure blooded human being." Natsuki shook her head. "It just doesn't work that way." Though in truth, there was more to it. "I can turn you into one, if I needed, but you'd have to want to become one. It can't just happen randomly."

"The bite marks are a dead giveaway." Shizuru had them speckled all over her body. "Besides, what makes you think that I'll believe any of this?"

"I can prove what happened last night wasn't a threat to you." Natsuki grumbled then as she pulled a book off of one of the shelves. "Chapter five, middle of the page." Natsuki quoted, it was the book of her people. "It distinctly tells you all of the ways you can become a werewolf." Still, for Shizuru's sanity, she would permit the human eyes to gaze upon it. "It's a mating ritual, you'll changed if you do that at any time. For us, it's our form of marriage, the nearest thing we can get...that is the only way a human can truly become one of us."

"Drink from a paw print that has gathered fresh rain, drink specially prepared beer, and then say an incantation?" Shizuru shook her head. "You must be joking."

"I'm not...the bite you're talking about, is a mark that indicates ownership of mating, and only happens during sex, and only on one of the four moons." Natsuki sighed. "Do you realize how many idiots drink from a paw print on a dare, not realizing it turns out to be true?" In truth, the changing stopped at step one, and the rest was purely for the beliefs of the people, but step one was enough to accidentally do damage. "Beyond that, you think you're with child, don't you?"

"I..." Shizuru frowned and averted her eyes. "I don't know."

"You aren't." Natsuki sniffed the air again, just to be sure. "I have a keen nose, I would be able to tell." There was a deeper truth to that, but Shizuru didn't need to hear of it, some things were better left to the shadows. Nao's still a wet eared pup... Natsuki took a small amount of amusement in that, as she pulled the book out of Shizuru's grasp. "Anyway, as you can see, there's no threat. You can go back to your humans."

"You don't understand." Shizuru shook her head. "I can't go back...the Fujino name, the entire estate, I turned eighteen this year." She bit her lip, she knew how bad it would sound, but, it was the truth. "You know what my family does. I hunt your kind, Natsuki. I haven't returned home, and furthermore, I've even given my body to one." She sighed, feeling the weight of that truth. "If I went home, I would be a disgrace."

"Who are the real monsters now?" Natsuki knew well of what the humans did to their own kind. "I should drag you back to your home, and leave you there to be killed." Natsuki growled. "That's what they do to you, isn't it?" She didn't have to ask, she knew. "If they think you to be unclean, they'd inject quick silver into your blood." Natsuki spat at the ground in disgust. She knew the truth. "The fact is, you'll die anyway, because that shit doesn't belong in any living being." It was unnatural. "Human, or wolf, it doesn't matter, you're as good as dead."

"Your friend, said she would protect me." Shizuru said then quietly.

"By that, she meant she'd leave you here, just to piss me off." Natsuki's head pounded and she finally decided she would deal with this later. "Fine, you can stay, but go make yourself useful. Make breakfast...or something." It was a muttered agreement at best. "God, I hate humans." Still, she hated murder, and wasn't going to aide in it. Not because Nao's an idiot.

...

The clothing was tight, and hardly fit her. The bra alone was at war with her, expensive though it was. She stood over the stove, the memories finally coming back to her in waves of thick guilt and remorse. All of the things she was unable to feel with the pheromones in the air. Things they had willed her not to even think of, came flooding back. She felt her heart starting to ache. She would be killed because she let her partner die, but also because she herself, had failed her very human heritage. The Fujino name, one that she had taken pride in. Now, she was reduced to being a simple maid, as she cooked breakfast.

She could hear, and see, the bellowing that was taking place in the living area, a fierce argument.

"You little shit, bringing home a human!" Natsuki growled at the young fiery redhead, a rage even every fiber of her being. "And you slept with her again?" Her hand flew out before she could stop it, slapping Nao across the face. "Idiot!" She snarled. "You're just a little wet eared pup. Do you have any idea what you've done?" She was back to thinking clearly, and her blood boiled when she finally allowed herself to swallow the hard facts. "We're harboring a fugitive human!"

"I couldn't just let her die!" Nao stood back up, uncaring about her bleeding lip as blood dripped on the floor and stained her teeth. "You're the one that missed the security guard and nailed one of the fuse boxes!" Nao wasn't going to take all of the heat. "Those sparks caused the fire! That fire is what screwed up the metal support beam!" In the end, they were both to blame. "If anyone killed that man, it was you, not me." Nao sighed heatedly, using her shirt to clean her face. "So I saved a human's life...not all of them are bad."

"I have every right to hate them." Natsuki's throat contorted into the lowest rumble she could muster. "Humans killed my mother, I'll be damned to take one in."

"A human killed your mother." Nao relented that fact. "But it wasn't that human. If you want to be the beast that she thinks you are, that's fine. Kill her here, or take her home and let them do it." Nao muttered then. "I can't keep her safe without your help, but if you won't do that, you're in charge of getting rid of her." Nao had never stormed out the house so quickly in her life, her speeds startling even Natsuki.

"I can't believe this." Natsuki sighed, as she scratched her head. "What a pain in the ass...what are you looking at?" She growled as she turned to walk back into the kitchen.

"Your breakfast." Shizuru offered quietly. "It's finished, just as you asked."

Natsuki didn't take the time to thank the woman, she only snatched the plate. Inspecting it carefully, she deduced it was safe to eat. "Sit down, we gotta talk." She loathed thinking she had to, but, Nao was right. This wasn't a good thing. No matter how anyone tried to spin it. "You're a human, and I hate humans." That was the easiest way to put it. In truth, she didn't hate them as much as she distrusted them, but it wasn't a matter she was willing to speak on. "Nao, saved you..so now you're my responsibility...the idiot."

"I'm sorry." Shizuru sighed then, licking her lips. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You're in werewolf central." Natsuki grumbled, slowly letting that sink in. "Rather, you're in a part of the city that is actually populated with a good number of us...if they find out you're here, there's a good chance they'll hunt you down." She took a bite of the steak in front of her, dipping it in the yolk of her egg. "Nao's just a brat, as far as werewolves go. Thirty years isn't exactly a long time for a creature that can live well into our hundreds." Natsuki just shrugged. "Life expectancy is about three hundred years, give or take...normally take." Natsuki added coldly. "We're usually killed to unnatural causes."

"She doesn't look thirty." Shizuru swallowed the fear that kept creeping up from her belly. "In fact, she looked to be a late teen." She knew what Natsuki was implying, and just how unnatural those causes actually were.

"We age like a human for the first ten or fifteen years of life, then we slow down quite a bit." Natsuki licked her lower lip of some stray yolk, and then stuffed her mouth full again, chewing quickly. "My drivers license says I'm twenty...but really, I'm almost fifty." It was when she took notice of the girl again that she felt guilty. Was she always so depressed looking? Natsuki couldn't recall, and sipped on her drink in obvious discomfort. Didn't Nao say that her teammate died last night? She swallowed the warm liquid, and set down her cup. "It can't be helped." Natsuki muttered cryptically, as she pulled out her cell phone dialing a number she knew by heart.

It was her boss that she called, declaring herself unable to work today, something many did, and her boss simply laughed at Natsuki with a teasing barb that the woman of midnight tresses couldn't easily ignore. She fumbled though it easily enough, with a sigh every bit as long as her years of life. When she hung up, she couldn't help but regard the woman, feeling a tad ill about the entire escapade. "Listen, you can't very well be a freeloader here forever, can you?" Natsuki asked, though the woman was dejected and didn't answer her. "The way I see it, you've got only two options."

Red eyes looked up at her, glimmering in the purity of pain, and regret. It was so fresh, especially now that everything had sunk it. It wasn't just a bad dream. She wouldn't just wake up. "What would those choices be?" Shizuru felt her heart tighten, fearing to be sent home, and yet, wishing the horrible fate at the same time, knowing it would be fitting, an end that welcomed her traitorous actions. Just let me stay. Still, as futility as it may have been, Shizuru didn't want to leave, and feared to be cast out into the nothingness of the city streets, knowing they would offer her very little in the way of a reprieve. Please, just let me stay.

"You wouldn't be the first one to fall under this type of circumstance. I've heard of it before. Many of my kind, in fact, are wayward humans." Natsuki was unsure of the numbers, but even Nao, herself, was a little twerp who'd gotten into trouble. "You either go into hiding, or you go through the ritual." Natsuki shrugged. "Either way, people will find some way to condemn you." It wouldn't be an easy choice to make, and Natsuki knew that. "You can't stay here for long as a human though, you'll be sniffed out." It was with a bit of an annoyed smirk that she shook her head. "You reek of Nao's scent, but that won't last. As soon as you bathe, it'll be gone."

"Natsuki won't hate me anymore, if I become one of her kind?" Shizuru asked, just a little unsure. "I will be safer that way?"

She received a low guttural snarl in response. "You're a Fujino, I'll hate you even then!" She regretted it as soon as she did it, but she wouldn't make that known as she scowled fiercely. "Listen, I don't make a habit of liking people often." She hoped that was enough of an apology. She stood up and stepped away from the table, clearing away her empty plates, putting them in the sink with a clatter. "You'll be safer that way, but it doesn't do us any good. Not until it rains."

…

Rain...

That's what they had to wait for, and even then, Natsuki was unsure about this insane notion that she wanted a pet human until then. She looked in the mirror, the light of day reflecting off the surface of the dust covered thing, and she took one of the towels she kept on hand to remove the annoying speckles of foreboding. She was in a form that was so like a human, and a normal one at that, but she was not nose blind, and she could still see.

Her senses keener, her body stronger, than any human could ever hope to achieve. Still, in spite of the fact that all of those things came normal to her, and the community in which she lived, there was one single truth that kept the peace.

The scent of dominance...

The older ones protected the younger ones. The older ones could kill more easily, because a werewolf only grew stronger with age. It was said that if one could survive beyond a hundred years, that they were the perfect partner, the best mate to have, because that person had overcome the odds. Sires with strong blood chose dams who would submit to that power. It was, without a doubt, the best way of life they could hope for, and mating seasons ensured their survivability by gifting all of the race opportunities to stand on equal ground. Dams could become sires, and sires could become dams, and for one night, four times a year, the war of dominance found itself in complete disarray.

Natsuki knew the truth...she herself, was not strong enough to protect this woman from her truest danger.

Dressed in a pair of jeans and a not so form fitting shirt, she sighed as she went out on her usual prowl. She warned the girl to stay, to hide, and not to come out for anyone. Natsuki gave direct, and very clear instructions not to make herself noticed, telling Shizuru that it could end up costing the woman her life. Still, it matter not, if the woman took heed.

Natsuki had bigger concerns, larger fish, in which to fry. The community in which she lived, found themselves in a cloud of well rounded protection, and for a fledgling werewolf, a pup such as herself, three was no greater alliance in which to have. After all, Natsuki was strong, but there were stronger still, ones whom even she, had to answer to...her own bloodline and birthright be damned.

Some of the eldest wolves lived here, hidden in the shadows, and when she came upon the house that she knew they would be residing, she knocked on the door, waiting to be let in. The woman that greeted her sighed at the damaged door creaking open, the inside of the home was in shambles. What do you expect, after last night? This was shared home, with three older, and very dangerous wolves. They ran the place, and kept the normally troubling scent of the younger, inexperienced wolves at bay.

It was with their protection that the younger ones could live so freely...that Natsuki could enjoy a more human lifestyle, away from fear.

"You're a rarity in these parts." The seductress purred, licking her lips, her body still not entirely back to normal. She looked human, there were no doubts there, but the smell of the rutting that went on last night consumed the home, and this woman was a flurry of scents that Natsuki not even dared to pick apart. Instead, she gulped as the woman welcomed her inside, closing the door behind her. "What can I do for you?" She was not as old as the eldest wolf in the house, but her many years were not to be discounted, and she had an appetite that was difficult to appease on the best of days...on the worst, like last night, Natsuki doubted many could keep up with this woman.

So much blood. Natsuki gulped down the illness she was feeling at that. Broken table too, how did they manage that? It didn't matter, she knew, and kept her nose out of it the best that she could. "I have a problem, it won't be for long...but it is, for now."

Natsuki noticed the subtle sniff in the air, the woman in front of her was looking for something, and found it, her eyes alight with interest. She sniffed a little harder, took in he scent, just to be sure. "It's all over you, child." She was unsure weather or not to be concerned. "Where is she now, and her name?"

"Anh, listen it's a difficult situation. She wants to become one of us." Natsuki said instead, fearing an utterance of the woman would welcome her death. She was lucky to have gotten lucky, Anh was tactful, if not uncanny. "Rather, I've decided that she will." Natsuki explained a bit. "It's the best thing for everyone involved."

"Growing a backbone, are you now?" It interested her, and she licked her lips in amusement, such a thing was comical. "How long have you've sought refuge in our pack?" The woman asked, and Natsuki paused.

"I'm a Kuga." Natsuki muttered with annoyance. "I wouldn't have had to seek shelter, if my mother was still alive."

Anh nodded and dragged Natsuki to a more secluded place. When they reached her bedroom, and she opened the door, guiding Natsuki inside. "A baby born and raised into the fold." That explained a lot. "A pup now, with a lineage that precedes her." It was funny, to say the least, as she chuckled to herself, taking the young one's hand in hers. "You are still that, when it comes to matters such as these."

"No, I'm not." Yes you are! Her mind screamed at her, as this woman smirked with devilish intent. "I need to know how to perform the ritual, without being tied down."

"This choice is not out of love?" Anh asked Natsuki then, as she leaned into the girl, to sample the soft nape of her neck. "I'm afraid, it doesn't work quite like that." The matter was delicate, so much so, that it seemed a fragility. Natsuki felt the same under her nose, the anxiety waving off of her. Why wouldn't it? Anh thought pleasantly, the urge of the moon was gone, indeed, but that didn't mean that all pretense for desires had been lost.

No, far from it in fact, and Natsuki's body reacted as her instincts proclaimed that she should.

Respectfully fearful, a bit unsure of she could back away, or if she should pounce, and Anh found the entire mental tirade pleasurable to view in the panicked emerald eyes. "No time for idle games today, I fear." Still, this was a matter to be taken with honor, not lust. "So, tell me, why is a human in our neck of the woods."

Subconsciously, Natsuki put a hand over the warmed flash that Anh had nipped not long ago. It had igniting a fire within Natsuki, a strong one, and she forced down the feeling as best as she could. Her body was telling her protection was in front of her. A person worthy to be submissive for, but, Natsuki knew that it wasn't exactly far from the truth. Anh's strength wasn't to be questioned, nor her authority. She was indeed well respected, if not a bit overzealous in who she played games with.

Natsuki explained in great detail, all that she could remember. The way the woman seemed intent on seeking shelter, interested in staying around. Natsuki's contempt was an obvious one, but so too, was her fondness for life in general. "So, because Nao pull a stupid stunt, I'm the one looking out for the human." Natsuki muttered, having come to the end of her long rehashing of events. "I know she wouldn't be the first to be changed in order to save her life...I also know she's a Fujino, so that alone should be punishable by death."

"Uncanny, that she didn't kill Nao when she had the chance." Anh spoke both in careful thought, and astonishment. The little fool, the human took a risk, and it paid off. "Nao can't be helped, she and her mother were changed by alternative methods. Of course she likes humans." She paced around the room, unsure.

"Nao's very loyal." Natsuki agreed. "But, sometimes, that gets her into trouble."

"A woman failing her right of passage...knowing what it would mean...and yet, being unable to take a life." Anh was not one for growling, thinking it a vicious practice among scoundrels. Ones who had little in the way to express themselves. "I can't seem to decide if the woman is merely an imbecile, or truly a tame human, unable to kill." Still, the obscenity, as she considered it, slipped carelessly from her throat.

"I doubt she's unable." Natsuki said then, recalling Nao's actions. "I don't think Shizuru's a danger either."

"There are passive humans." Anh explained carefully, unsure just what Natsuki knew of them. "Ones who can murder our kind with ease, but choose, for whatever reason, not to." Begging to be saved by old ways, traditions that died hard. She'd seen it before, a human unable to finish their birthright, falling to their knees begging for mercy. "Humans who do not kill us, they are welcomed, but this girl, kind though she seems, is indeed a threat." This was a difficult choice. "You dislike her, and yet, you wish to help her?"

"I don't know." Natsuki snarled to herself, more than Anh, the scowl completely unnerving, even to herself. "I don't think she should die." Natsuki offered, trying to clear her thoughts. "I just don't want to get mixed up with humans, either."

Anh nodded, and produced a small vial from one of her drawers. "There are mixtures that will indeed allow someone to become one of us." Anh began carefully, to be sure Natsuki understood. "However, the transformation is not natural, and it takes a rather strong wolf to help contain the madness a human might endure." Anh was sure Natsuki was old enough to fend off a weak wolf. Powers came with age, so surely this human would not be a threat. "Because you don't wish to bond with her on a spiritual level, her inability to rein in her senses, will without a doubt allow them to run rampant." When she put the vial in Natsuki's hand, she took hold of the young one's shoulders.

"I'll be around." Natsuki grumbled then, still unsure of that herself. "At least until she gets the hell out of my house." That better be soon. Natsuki thought, vexed by the very thought of allowing the woman to occupy her home for any length of time. She nibbled her lip in thought. "She can share my line of work, I can get her used to this lifestyle...then I can send her on her way."

"A worthy cause." Anh nodded, though her eyes twinkled in truths better left in the heated whispers of night. "She is an adult woman." The seductress purred, carefully exuding her powerful scent to attract attention. "I have no idea just how she will react, but if you give her this medicine, you should be aware, your influence will be needed." The implication was direct. "I would advise that you consider this option carefully, because as you can see, it requires a bit of tact." Anh licked her lips, a soft smile on her face. "I assume this woman knows well of just what we beings are, deep in our very core, correct?"

Natsuki took the warning with a measured nod as she peered at the blue tinted liquid. "I think she does." They were not above the blood that pumped through them, not at all sheltered from baser tendencies. "If she doesn't, she'll find out." She's a Fujino...that's got to count for something. "Given what she was doing to catch Nao's attention in the first place, it's a pretty safe bet to guess that she knows, at least about some things." Ill informed, but also not entirely wrong either. Natsuki thought, as she pocketed the medicine.

"It will be a slow transition, but a powerful one, regardless." As a specie, they were known for impulsiveness. "Natsuki, if you plan to change her, do it soon. If you plan to end her, also consider doing it quickly. I'll offer her no protection as a human, and even as a wolf, I have my suspicions."

Vices were around them always, and temptation was a virtue to them. There were some very rabid dogs among the werewolves for that reason alone. There were some who lacked the pride of self restraint, instead, they relished taking any and all that might be theirs to have. That was not to say that everyone acted upon such whims, often very deplorable ones at that...but they did linger in the shadows of angry, shallow souls. Natsuki herself, was not safe from her more angry, solitary natures that she contained against her wishes.

After all, if she'd had her way about it, a far more primal, seething way...she would have cast the woman aside, or would have abandoned her someplace for judgment. Still, Natsuki took pride in controlling her whims, she refused to be such a creature. Even this was a great risk, and Anh wasn't toying around idly with that truth. "I'll make the decision soon." Natsuki told Anh nodding her agreement.